India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel is gearing up for his debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Having climbed the ranks to establish himself as a key part of the Indian Test team, Jurel is likely to showcase his talent when India faces Australia in Perth on Friday, November 22.
In a recent interaction, Jurel shared insights into the cricketers who have inspired him throughout his journey. Among the names he mentioned were legendary players like MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag, who have significantly influenced his career.
“Virender Sehwag—my family used to watch him in the beginning—AB de Villiers because of his innovation, the calmness of MS Dhoni, the aggression of Virat Kohli, and the ease of Rohit Sharma. There are so many cricketers from whom I’ve drawn inspiration,” Jurel told Star Sports.
Jurel also expressed that representing India in Test cricket has always been his ultimate dream. He reminisced about his childhood, recalling how he would wake up early to watch India’s Test matches, inspired by the players who donned the whites before him.
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"I remember when matches were held in Australia, New Zealand, and England, we had to set alarms because the time zone was different. I was always filled with excitement, and now that I'm here, I'm hopeful for the chance to play in the matches. I am still very excited, though there are some butterflies in my stomach, but I am looking forward to it," Jurel said.
The upcoming five Test match series against Australia is important for India considering the World Test Championship (WTC) final. India recently lost a Test series against New Zealand and now the Men in Blue need to register 4-0 win in the upcoming assignment to seal their spot in WTC Final without depending on other teams outcomes.
“I can’t deny that this is a difficult tour, especially after how the last series went. We are very excited and pumped up, and we are here to give it our all. We are looking forward to every challenge. We know there will be challenges, but we are ready to overcome them,” Jurel said.
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran
